Expectations and Outcomes in Art, Mind and Physics

So, I was trying to finish a painting that I left half way done before a 9 day Expressive Arts workshop in Sonoma, California at the beginning of June. The problem is that I now feel a change in myself, so I have no idea of what to do about this painting. My expectations are foggy, to say the least.

Several ideas have been turning around in my head, one is the moving from a Newtonian approach to life (what I mean by this is linear, simple, measurable) to a quantum approach, meaning that a process cannot be observed without being changed. The act of observing is a catalyst for whatever change the observer ‘expects.’ This phenomenon occurs in quantum physics experiments regarding the nature of light, where if we want to see wave patters, that is what happens, and if we want to see particles, then we see particles.

Recently I exchanged emails with an architect from Norway, Haakon Rasmussen who had been teaching in Taiwan. In telling me about his work he mentioned the idea of Compost. COMPOST, stuck in my mind. Compost is a quantum process in many ways, including in that if you open it to look at it; Compost will not happen, because it needs the darkness to transform.

Again here the act of observation changes the outcome. All this is directly related to what I experience in the Expressive Arts workshop in Sonoma in which we learned reflective counseling techniques that included the use of art materials. As a counselor my main action was to observe. As long as that was all I tried to do, a positive change occurred. As an observer I was a catalyst for positive change. But just like in quantum physics there is more than that. Just like if a physicist wants to see waves, she sees waves, and if she wants to see particles, she sees particles, as a counselor the element of belief played a big part.

To actually see positive change, observation and reflective gestures might not be enough because what will manifest is affected by the counselor’s deep belief regarding human nature, just like for the physicist what she sees is affected by her deep beliefs regarding the nature of light.

To see positive change the Expressive Arts counselor might need to feel that she, as well as every person, is an entity who naturally tends towards growth, that the experiences of a person’s life are the compost from which life spring forth, that the universe tends towards growth and health (given the right external conditions.) Such tendency towards health and growth must be as trusted by the counselor as the force of gravity is trusted by the person in the street – anyone, you and me.

Lorena Fernandez | We all can find comfort, clarity and insight by engaging in the arts.